Samsung Galaxy S4 to feature eye-tracking technology?

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Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S4 will feature a new eye-tracking technology that will allow users to scroll through web pages without touching the screen and using only their eyes, according to the New York Times.

The new handset is said to feature heavily on the software side, leaving Samsung to continue building on Google's Android 4.2 with its TouchWiz UX. A Samsung employee anonymously told the New York Times that when a user's eyes reach the bottom of an article's page, the software will automatically scroll down to reveal the next paragraphs of text.

There have been several patents by Samsung that sound like the rumoured eye-matching feature. In January the company filed a European trademark for "Eye Scroll" and has also filed for "Eye Pause" in the past. Today's report doesn't offer word on what the feature might be named or the technology behind it.

It's worth noting Samsung's Galaxy S III included an eye-tracking feature where the front-facing camera would register if a user's eyes were looking at the device and turn the screen on. If the user's eyes were away, the screen would turn-off. In our testing, we found it a little finicky, but that's not to say Samsung won't improve it with the latest Galaxy release.

The report also mentions word that the software features will outweigh what's added on the hardware side. According to rumours in recent months, the Galaxy S4 will feature a 4.99-inch HD Super AMOLED screen, 1.8GHz Exynos 5 8-core processor, and 13-megapixel sensor. Overall build quality is not known, nor are other features.

So far, Samsung has kept a pretty good wrap on upcoming S4 features - in an Apple-like format. Samsung is set to announce its upcoming flagship at a launch event in New York City on 14 March. Pocket-lint will be bringing you the latest live.